Earth & Sky

How do fish sleep?

When I’m swimming underwater, everything looks hazy.

Are black and white really colors?

Can short naps make you more alert?

Why this fierce predator is fighting for its life.

Have you ever flown faster than the speed of sound?

Every full moon has its own name. Here’s what they’re called.

Look at some pictures that celebrate Earth.

Some are big enough to be seen from space. But they start small.

Space is black. So how come the sky is blue?

It seems like they’d grow straight up toward the sun.

We’ve shown you this before, but it’s just so funny …

Monday, May 5, 2008. After the sun sets today, there’s a slim chance of someone spotting a record-setting young crescent moon in eastern Canada. From eastern North America, the young moon is less than 1/2 day old. No matter where you live, try to spot this razor-thin crescent moon in the west immediately after sunset.

Six dead zones in the past six years, but none before that. That’s what scientists have discovered in the Pacific ocean off the northwest U.S. coast. Marine biologist Jane Lubchenco talk about what might be causing these “virtual wastelands.”

Friday, May 2, 2008. The annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower is lighting up the hours before dawn around now. But – because these meteors have a relatively broad maximum – you can look for the Eta Aquarids on any clear morning before dawn this weekend, too.

Researchers are recovering the lost voice of the Neanderthals after 30,000 years of silence. Hear the Neanderthal accent, as reconstructed by Robert McCarthy, an anthropologist at Florida Atlantic University, in Boca Raton.

The ocean is a magical place, says explorer Alexandra Cousteau. She talks about exploring our planet’s last frontier.

In a very dark sky, you can easily see a bright region of the Milky Way – the direction toward the galaxy’s center in the constellation Sagittarius. We cannot see the exact center of our Milky Way galaxy. It’s obscured by dark curtains of interstellar dust. Instead, you’re gazing at part of one of the prominent spiral arms of our galaxy, called the Sagittarius Arm.

Plans are underway to establish a permanent human presence on the moon by the year 2020. NASA’s Pete Worden explains why he believes people should return to the moon.

Want to transform your life? Go for a hike! says adventure journalist Peter Potterfield. Here’s how it helps your body – and mind – whether you hike in the Cascade Mountains or your own neighborhood.

Friday, April 25, 2008. Throughout this weekend, the waning gibbous moon and blazing planet Jupiter shine close to one another in the dawn and predawn sky. For most of planet Earth this weekend, the moon and Jupiter appear closest together on Sunday morning.

In the far future, a giant cloud of hydrogen will collide with our Milky Way galaxy and help create thousands of new stars.

Shark expert “Dr. Hammerhead” follows hammerhead sharks on their ‘superhighways’ in the sea, starting at the Galapagos islands.

“We know little about sharks in general…and these are the sharks that live a long way down in the ocean.” Australian shark expert Colin Simpfendorfer says that there are 600 species of deep sea sharks, and they’re in trouble.